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About the book 'BERBERITY' published at Éd. du Lys Bleu, Paris
‘BERBERITY’
ISBN : 979-10-377-8918-1
This is a cultural term that refers to the North African Berber civilization. The book subtitle reads: “The Quest of the Amazigh Identity from Prehistory to the Fall of Carthage”.
If the term ‘Berber’ derives from the Greek word ‘barbarian’ [βᾰ́ρβᾰρος / barbaros] that defined other cultures, which were not Greek or Roman, it progressively lost its original meaning to become synonymous with ‘uncivilized’ or ‘primitive’. After the decolonization of North Africa, the search for a national identity aimed at re-centering the culture to the oriental Arab World. But Science and Anthropology progressively changed this political consciousness because the Berbers emerged as the original inhabitants of North Africa. The language - or rather the various local dialects - known as Tamazight [ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ] was revived as well as its ancestral alphabet known as Tifinagh [ⵜⴼⵏ]. Consequently, an overall consciousness leads to the change of the term ‘Berber’ to the Tamazight word ‘Amazigh’ [ⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ] (singular) / ‘Imazighen’ [ⵉⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵏ,] (plural’). The term ‘Amazigh’ has often been translated as “ the free Men”. Strangely enough, this phrase seems to characterize the local sense of identity, which could be summarized as a permeable liberty widely open to other cultures - particularly the Mediterranean.
Yet, the word ‘Amazigh’ also tends to be altered and become the trademark for a more radical request.
By choosing the word ‘berberity’, this book sets the Prehistoric origins of this ancient north-African civilization, without denying what we could also call its native ‘Amazighity’. Anthropology is a social science that has nothing to do with politics or any established history.
Why then including the fall of Carthage? At the end of the second Punic War, the Romans sacked the city of Carthage in 146 BC. It was the beginning of a new colonization age. But it had no real effect on the local identity. The Muslim invasions only started in the 7th - 8th century of the common era. In the book this landmark only serves as a convenient boundary because the Berber identity was already set.
For the time being, this book is in French and has not been translated into English or any other language. It can be purchased through the Amazon network.
Christian Sorand
October 2023
Survey of a terracotta Chawi dish from Algeria
IDENTIFYING SIGNS IN THE EARTHENWARE POTTERY
Survey of a terracotta dish from the Aurès Mountains (Algeria)
ABSTRACT
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Photo & private collection © C.Sorand |
This paper is first concerned with a large terracotta dish found in the El-Abiod Valley located on the southern side of the mountain range. Squaring the circle is a rather common type of pottery among the Chawi Berbers, who inhabit the Aurès.
Four protuberances indicate the four corners of the square, whereas the dish sides are slightly curved. This first visual sign mixes the cosmic circle with the square that stands for the Earth. As this pottery was used for cooking, it is raw on the outside. Only its inside has therefore been decorated. A large Sun effigy characterizes the dish with nine sun rays but we can also see five dots in the lower part. Right at the center of the larger brown circle representing the Sun, there is a hollow center, a rather unusual feature. At this stage, this domestic rural dish bears the four basic universal symbols: a central dot, a large circle, a cross [X} by joining the four protuberances, and a square.
But the shape of squaring the circle is challenging as if it were a symbolic way to assemble the sky (the circle) with the earth (the square). The Chawi Berbers have had a long tradition of being isolated due to topology (the mountains) and geography (a cold temperate side in the north versus a warmer Saharan exposition in the south). The locals live on basic agriculture and breed mostly goats and sheep. This pottery belongs to the southern Saharan side of the mountains. It is the usual location for the fortified granaries, where grains and olive oil were kept safe in a communal tradition. In other words, the Chawi Berber have always relied on the weather conditions for their own subsistence. As basic as this may sound, it is of utmost importance to associate the spirit of the people with the outside natural elements as knowledge of their past largely shows it.
By considering these factors, interpreting the pottery design makes sense. It is a way to acknowledge the sky for providing the food the dish will contain. The Sun provides its force to have the grain grow (the dots). The nine rays symbolize a full bloom cycle; if there are five of them, it is to include the protection of the Muslim religion. Pagan and religious spiritualities are always mitigating in this region.
The analysis gives way to a wider anthropological consideration of Berber pottery-making by connecting the present tradition to the past. Clearly, mythical beliefs persist in the use of traditional geometric designs. The Sun used to be a ‘Libyan’ deity but within an agricultural and pastoral society, its importance has naturally subsisted. North African Berber societies remain largely impacted by feelings of protection, gratitude, and offerings to the natural elements. As we know pottery dates back to the Neolithic. It started 10,000 years ago with the Caspian civilization. The archaeological site of Tiddis (3,000 years ago), near Constantine, in the north of the Aurès, has provided fine examples of designs, which are still used today in the Kabylie region to the North.
As we have already analyzed the symbolic designs of the Chawi Berbers, we continue exploring the value of the signs in the earthenware pottery. It remains a solid link to the Berber culture as well as the Mediterranean heritage. Consequently, after considering the Sejnane terracotta art of Tunisia, it seems appropriate to have a closer look at the Chawi terracotta pottery of Algeria.
C.S.
ABSTRACT ON THE SEJNANE HAND-MADE POTTERY
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| © C.Sorand |
In 2018, when UNESCO added the terracotta art of Sejnane, Tunisia to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, this female handmade pottery art suddenly became known everywhere. Handmade pottery represents one aspect of the Berber traditional art forms among others such as tapestry, jewelry, or even the fast-disappearing tattoos. Each of the three north-African countries continues to perpetrate the tradition: Tamegroute or the Rift area, in Morocco, the Kabyle or Chaoui potteries in Algeria, and the Kroumirie or Douiret ones in Tunisia. Sejnane is a small country community in the Mogod hills of northern Tunisia. As is often the case among the Berbers, this form of art is primarily a woman’s prerogative. Its main feature consists in its geometric or figurative décor. And since it has remained almost untouched since the Neolithic, it conveys a high-value worth of being preserved and continued. In Sejnane, this technique uses local clay collected from river beds. It is made of two natural colors. One is mineral (red ochre) and the other is vegetal (a Mediterranean plant called lentisk or Pistacia lentiscus). Traditionally, pottery was made for domestic purposes. But in the hands of the local women it served also as an aesthetic and cultural means of expression. This showed not only in the forms but principally in its decorative motifs in keeping with an ancestral taste for geometrical abstraction. The text attempts to define the inspiration behind as well as the hidden message carried out by an array of signs. But the analysis also considers some of the new trends that have emerged since roughly the middle of the 20th century. Modernity, or sometimes new requests, has led to adding two new forms of pottery: figurines and animals. Although this may be seen as a danger for the traditional form, it also brings forward the assertiveness of the women in regard to both their ancestral Berber culture and their modernity in a country that liberated the role of women. We note that this tradition already existed during the Libyco-punic period of Carthage at the time of the goddess Tanit period. As for the animals, it has a certain anthropological value, as it relays the human world to their perception of animals. Both new artistic additions continue to use decorative signs.
Abstract-Berber Signs
SURVEY ON THE BERBER SIGNS
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| Air vent sign above a door in the Hammamet Medina (TUNISIA) © C. Sorand |
The current ongoing analysis pursues previous studies in decrypting the meanings of the Berber symbolic signs encountered in artistic designs such as pottery, jewelry, murals, doors, or any other forms of architecture.
Berber signs are easily recognized through their geometrical design. They often carry a visual message that has not been sufficiently acknowledged. Yet, we think, it may well help us understand better the impact of their overall social value.
The origin of these signs goes back to the Neolithic period. As they are still in use, the historical link bears a valuable source of knowledge. If these signs initially had a spiritual value based on their pagan ancestry, they have remained alive till today because they also carry a deep-rooted attachment to Mother Earth. This is an important factor because the natural environment has always been a core value for the Berbers.
In the Kabyle region of Algeria, there also exists a significant use of regional signs having a specific significance. However, this paper considers the geometric signs that are recognized as having a widespread common background in the Maghreb region of northern Africa. Consequently, considering the value of the signs, enables us to attach them to their deep African heritage. Paleo-anthropologists may also find it useful as some share an identity to the prehistoric rock art such as in the Tassili n’Ajjer. This text first identifies 7 geometrical shapes: the dot, the square and the rectangle, the triangle, the lozenge, the cross, and the circle. In the earthenware pottery, squaring the circle is also an interesting feature encountered in some isolated regions such as the Aurès. But, the text considers the design of the six-pointed cross analyzed here as being a “solar wheel”. Its recurrence is justified through an array of photographic documents collected in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia. Due to the importance of early Christianism mostly in the eastern part of the Maghreb, we think this particular design may also have inspired the early Chrism sign. The last geometric sign considered is the eight-pointed cross.
We hope that this extended analysis will help have a better understanding of the Berber geometric signs and will enable making useful links.
C.S.
Bangkok, August 2023
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| Wall decoration, Anti-Atlas, Morocco © C.Sorand |
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| Solar wheel on a door frame in Tunisia © C. Sorand |
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